Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Freed from Tithing, Free to Give - Part 3 of 4

Jesus mentioned the tithe and the writer of Hebrews mentioned the tithe. But were these mentions of the tithe meant as teachings for Christians to follow? Here in Part 3 we look at these New Testament mentions of tithing and we see how they were not teachings that instructed Christians to tithe, but rather they had other purposes for being mentioned. In short, Jesus' mentions of the tithe were part of an overall rebuke of the Pharisees for their self-righteousness and hypocrisy. The mention of Abraham's tithe in Hebrews 7 was to show that the Priesthood of Melchizedek / Jesus is superior to the Priesthood of the Levites.

Please listen all the way through to see what is really being said in these passages. And read the passages for yourself! Jesus' mentions of the tithe are in Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42 and Luke 18:12. Hebrews 7 is where you'll find the explanation of Abraham's tithe to Melchizedek. Please go back and read all of Hebrews, or at least start with chapter 5 to see why Melchizedek is so important in all this.